Towed trailers are commonly subject to rollover accidents which, upon occurrence, may exert extreme torsional forces to the coupling linkage between the trailer and a towing vehicle. Such torsional forces commonly break the linkage, allowing the towed trailer to travel over ground and roadway surfaces independently from and in directions different than the towing vehicle. Incidents of such independent and differently directed trailer travel occurring upon a rollover accident may threaten severe property damage, personal injuries, or fatalities. In order to reduce such risks, flexible safety chains or cables are commonly provided as a backup which further interconnects the trailer and the towing vehicle. In the event of a trailer rollover accident, the flexible backup chains spanning between the trailer and the vehicle are able to violently twist without breaking. The conventionally provided backup safety chains desirably maintain a secure connection between the towing vehicle and its trailer until both vehicles are able to come to a stop.
Where the towed trailer constitutes a wheeled anhydrous ammonia tank trailer (which is a subject of the instant invention), toppling and rollover accidents are, as with any trailer, a threat. Accordingly, it remains desirable to equip anhydrous ammonia trailers with safety chains. However, unlike conventional trailers, anhydrous ammonia trailers include a high pressure anhydrous ammonia hose which typically extends forwardly to a forwardly positioned tractor towed fertilizer applicator. Torsional forces experienced during an anhydrous ammonia trailer rollover accident may, in addition to breaking the trailer tongue linkage, break such anhydrous ammonia supply hose, resulting in a violent ejection of anhydrous ammonia vapor and gas.
In the event of such dual breakage of a tow tongue linkage and an anhydrous ammonia supply hose, the trailer's backup safety chains may undesirably fixedly hold the tow vehicle at the vicinity of a potentially lethal expanding cloud of anhydrous ammonia gas. Safety chain holding of the tow vehicle at such location and vicinity may undesirably result in serious gas poisoning or death of the operator of the towing vehicle. In such circumstances, the conventionally used and conventionally needed trailer safety chains are undesirably transformed into a factor causing injury or death.
The instant inventive anhydrous ammonia trailer hitch solves or ameliorates the problems and deficiencies described above by specially configuring an anhydrous ammonia trailer hitch to include a linear motion actuator which operatively engages a bolt, which may alternatively retain and release a specially configured release plate component.